Hot Bimmer!!!

[jnejman]

Hi,
I own 2001 530i and recently I have noticed that my temperature gage is going awfully close to red zone. It even went over to red zone so I sopped the car and shut off the engine to let it cool off.
Checked the antifreeze level, it is OK. Now when I drive it seems to be very sporadic, when it gets too close to red I just turn on the heat and it goes back to the middle of the gage like it should, and it stays there as long and heat is on.
What do you guys think that might be?

Any advice would be appreciated

[xsperf]

it doesnt really have anything to do with the heat, if any car heats up, u turn on the heater, the engine temp. drops.

maybe its ur thermostat.. i dont believe it would be ur radiatior.. unless u are in an extremely cold area and ur mixture isnt very good and the antifreeze may have frozen.

is this EVERY time u drive?

[Torque]

replace thermostat, bleed the air out of the system... if that doesnt help, your fan is probably not coming on and that could be a dead fan clutch, or some electronic problem...

[jnejman]

temperature is fine for about 20 min from the start. Then it starts creeping slowly. I usually turn on the heat up and then it goes back to normal in 5 seconds after heat is turned on.
???

used

[BeelZibub]

Originally posted by jnejman@Oct 22 2004, 08:22 PM
temperature is fine for about 20 min from the start. Then it starts creeping slowly.* I usually turn on the heat up and then it goes back to normal in 5 seconds after heat is turned on.
???

used

[snapback]216259[/snapback]

Excuse me if I make a few typo's in this post - It's 10.50 on friday evening and I have just drunk 2 bottles of wine and half a ltire of rum.

I would guess a dodgy thermostat or perhaps a faulty fan switch.

The reason turning up the heat eleviates the problem is as follows:-

The cooling system of the car extends into the cabin behind the dash and console and the hot water from the engine is run through a "Heater Matrix", which is basically a mini radiator. The heating system blows air from a fan through the heater matrix and into the venting system - this is how the air is heated and is just a smaller version of the main radiator, which means turning up the heat will have a cooling effect on the cars coolant system. I had a cavalier which in summer I had to drive around with the windows and sunroof open and the heater on full blast/fan to stop her from overheating (I have covered over 120 miles in one journey like this) because my fan switch was buggered - IE. when I was sitting in traffic and the temp rose there was no cooling, turn on the heater fan and hey presto the heater matrix acted as a mini radiator and was enough to disperse the heat (sweated like buggery though). If you are in a hot climate at present and the fans does not come on (there is an aux one as well) it may just be a fuse to the fan or at most the fan switch.

At least the fact that the heater is cooling the system proves you have a good flow through the cooling system - that elimintes air bubbles blocking the system.

Hope youo get her sorted.

BLZ

[Alin10123]

Originally posted by BeelZibub+Oct 22 2004, 05:46 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(BeelZibub @ Oct 22 2004, 05:46 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteBegin-jnejman@Oct 22 2004, 08:22 PM
temperature is fine for about 20 min from the start. Then it starts creeping slowly.* I usually turn on the heat up and then it goes back to normal in 5 seconds after heat is turned on.
???

used

[snapback]216259[/snapback]

Excuse me if I make a few typo's in this post - It's 10.50 on friday evening and I have just drunk 2 bottles of wine and half a ltire of rum.

I would guess a dodgy thermostat or perhaps a faulty fan switch.

The reason turning up the heat eleviates the problem is as follows:-

The cooling system of the car extends into the cabin behind the dash and console and the hot water from the engine is run through a "Heater Matrix", which is basically a mini radiator. The heating system blows air from a fan through the heater matrix and into the venting system - this is how the air is heated and is just a smaller version of the main radiator, which means turning up the heat will have a cooling effect on the cars coolant system. I had a cavalier which in summer I had to drive around with the windows and sunroof open and the heater on full blast/fan to stop her from overheating (I have covered over 120 miles in one journey like this) because my fan switch was buggered - IE. when I was sitting in traffic and the temp rose there was no cooling, turn on the heater fan and hey presto the heater matrix acted as a mini radiator and was enough to disperse the heat (sweated like buggery though). If you are in a hot climate at present and the fans does not come on (there is an aux one as well) it may just be a fuse to the fan or at most the fan switch.

At least the fact that the heater is cooling the system proves you have a good flow through the cooling system - that elimintes air bubbles blocking the system.

Hope youo get her sorted.

BLZ

[snapback]216308[/snapback]

[/b][/quote]

I think it's your fan not working. Because when you turn on your heater, the heater has it's own fan. So... since the heat comes from the engine, that's what is realeasing the heat. So... make sure your fan works and comes on.